Chapter 53: XXIV. Reassurance-2

But I could see that Zoey wasn't in control. She was the least controlled that I had ever seen her. Her jealousy was making her go out of her mind. I thought about just telling her that I knew Josh was her mate, and offering her empathy, but something told me Zoey would just throw it back in my face. Zoey's interests were also not those that I was looking out for. She was screwing around with my friend, and I owed him loyalty before her. She could threaten me all she wanted. Until she actually made the decision to accept Josh as the decent guy he was, then I couldn't give two hoots about what she said to me. Zoey wasn't the type of person who could be told. She needed to get there herself. So I merely smirked at her, before leaving the bathroom. I studied in the library until my next class, and then continued on with my normal schedule. When lunch came, I made my way alone to the cafeteria, and stood in line for whatever unidentifiable special was being served today. As I was counting the ones I had in my purse, Josh came up next to me. "Hey," he said excitedly, looking around for Zoey. He spotted her almost immediately, sitting at Shea's table beside Cece. Shea was there, too, watching us with idle curiosity. I smiled at him. I loved him. I still couldn't get over it. "Zoey cornered me in the bathroom during second period today. She's going absolutely crazy," I informed him. We made our way up to the servery, choosing a few things to put on our trays before paying for our food. "Okay, she's looking," whispered Josh, almost inaudibly. Just as I was about to offer him my tray to carry, all in effort to make Zoey jealous, I was surprised by Josh suddenly in my face, crashing his lips to mine. It took me a second to realise what was happening, but Josh was kissing me. I didn't have a chance to push him off of me, because that was already happening. Shea was beside us in a second, pulling Josh away, and looking positively lethal while doing it. "What the fuckdo you think you're doing?" he seethed. Shea seemed to grow a foot as he stood between me and Josh. Josh, who was a left tackle, was just as tall, and if not more muscular than Shea, but he looked intimidated. I needed to defuse this. Before I could even get around Shea, he had shoved Josh, causing him to drop his cafeteria tray. The sound and the commotion had quickly drawn all attention to us. Shit, shit, shit. Shea was going to knock Josh out and then get suspended or something because of me. I knew this wasn't a normal reaction. This was a lycan thing. A territory thing. And I could have been all pissed off being thought of as property, and I would later, but right now I needed to make sure the damn cops weren't called. "Shea!" I hissed, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. Shea barely noticed. He shoved Josh again, and this time he fell onto a crowded table, sending their lunches flying everywhere. Students were now covered in spaghetti and milkshakes, and the tension was quickly rising. "Shea, he didn't mean anything by it!" I tried again but he ignored me. He was getting angrier, and angrier, his body shaking with rage. Cece was next to us now, trying to calm down her brother, and to my surprise, Zoey had run over, and had inserted herself between Shea and Josh. She wasn't glaring at me, but Shea. She looked fierce, and strong, and utterly territorial. "Back. Off," she said firmly through clenched teeth. Shea paused, though his anger had in no way diminished. Teachers suddenly flooded the cafeteria. Students were dispersing and trying to get away from the fight, but Shea, Josh, Zoey and I were all caught up in it, and immediately sent to the principal's office. We were seated on the sofas in the office while we waited for Principal Baynard to arrive from a meeting. We were alone in the office. Shea and I were sitting on a small loveseat, while Zoey and Josh occupied the two armchairs. The office was covered in school memorabilia, trophies, flags and ribbons. It was an entirely spirited, cheerful space. Anything but like the meeting at the moment. Shea was still furious. I hadn't had the chance to explain. And nothing could really be said considering Josh was ignorant of everything. It was hard to tell who Zoey was angrier at. Shea or me. Me. It would always be me. "I don't know what the fuck goes on in your locker room, you jackass, but kissing a girl who didn't ask for it is fucking assault," Shea finally spat. Josh glared at Shea. "Oh, and shoving me across a cafeteria isn't, caveman?" he retorted. Good one. "I think we can all agree if Sara had just kept her slutty hands to herself, none of us would be in this mess," muttered Zoey. I rolled my eyes. "And I think we can all agree if we had just been a little more honest with ourselves, we wouldn't be in this mess, huh Zoey?" I snapped impatiently. Zoey's eyes narrowed. "Watch yourself, Zoey," Shea said angrily. "You speak like that about Sara again and we're going to have a problem." "Hey, don't talk to her like that," Josh said defensively. "You're not the boss of her." Shea laughed ironically. I squeezed his thigh to get his attention. He looked down at me and I gave him a look that told him to shut up. "And I thought nothing could ruin my mood today," he murmured to me. I shook my head. This was all such a big misunderstanding. And it was Josh's fault. How he thought kissing me was a good idea, I didn't know. But Shea didn't need to be such a caveman. And Zoey needed to put on her big girl panties and admit that she liked Josh. The office door opened and Principal Baynard walked in. He was wearing a suit that looked to be one size too small for him, and an expression that looked like my mom's whenever she had too many balls to juggle. I was guessing we were the last thing that he wanted to deal with today. His eyes first settled on Josh. He sighed defeatedly. "Hackett, if you're suspended, you can't play. What the hell did you do?" "Nothing," Josh said defensively. "I should not be suspended. I get suspended, I will lose any chance at a scholarship!"